A shortage of skilled digital professionals working in the NHS has been a barrier to digital transformation to date. Digital specialists can often command higher wages or better conditions in the private sector. This makes recruitment and retention to the NHS challenging, and leaves the health service reliant on third-party suppliers.

A shortage of skilled digital professionals working in the NHS has been a barrier to digital transformation to date. Digital specialists can often command higher wages or better conditions in the private sector. This makes recruitment and retention to the NHS challenging, and leaves the health service reliant on third-party suppliers. Type: conclusion | Number: 5 | Paragraph: 45 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: We are working to improve recruitment and retention of DDaT specialists, including the review of pay measures. However, the scale of the challenge is broad and the result of a combination of issues: • The demands on the traditional IT functions within a provider are shifting from being purely managi